Mother's Day Weekend Tarotscopes!

What does the weekend have in store for you?

The Haunted Gladstone Hotel

It was a gorgeous day in May when I ventured over to the Gladstone Hotel.

My original destination was the Toronto Indie Arts Market.

The market sprawled across two floors and the vendors were varied and engaging.

Toronto has an enormous amount of indie art and this market is a great place for people to buy unique gifts for any occasion. The market occurs periodically so be certain to check out the website for the next one. If you're an artist, writer, photographer, button maker, or any other kind of creator, you can sign up for your own table on the website. Toronto Indie Arts Market

I've never really walked around the Gladstone Hotel, which is pretty funny when you consider I lived a block away from it back in the eighties when I was pregnant with my first child. It was a much different hotel back then. I was way too scared to ever go inside just by judging the rough and tumble regulars who hung around out front.

That Gladstone Hotel as I remembered it died twenty years ago.

Built in 1889, it has weathered Toronto's growth and change. It was a popular stopover destination and known to be the last call for alcohol until Hamilton in a stricter era. Over the years, it has been all gussied up and is a real delight to experience.

There was also a photographic exhibit throughout the hotel celebrating forty years of hip-hop. I followed the display.

There were lobbies on each of the two upper floors. The top floor had a different exhibit that was equally breath-taking.

While I was walking along the third floor hallway, I had one of my feelings. I hadn't gone into the hotel looking for ghosts. But one was waiting for me in the hallway. I walked through the top two floors twice each, and each time, that "Lizzie Borden House" feeling as I call it hit me in the same spot. I wish I had brought my K2 meter to see if there was a lot of wiring in that spot or what might be causing that sensation.

I was drawn to the elevator several times too though I wouldn't go on it. I'm not sure if I was allowed to but it looked like something out of a horror movie to me. I took a few pictures but haven't checked them yet for anything unusual.

A quick look through Google didn't turn up any real compelling ghost stories. There is mention of a piano player by Chris Mysterion and I have no doubt there's something going on in that room.

I wouldn't be surprised if some of the locals still hung out there in the afterlife.

You never know what's going to happen in the oldest continuously running hotel in Toronto. I'd like to stay in a room one or two nights to see if I would have any experiences. If anyone else has ever had experiences at the Gladstone, please feel free to share below.

Uncovering Creepy Places in Your Hood

Copyright 2013 Sephera Giron Not to be copied without permission.

The weather is finally breaking here in Toronto. There's a tentative hope that spring is springing at last.

As the weather gets better, the urge to get out more beckons to us. Toronto has lots of places to explore even if you have only a few minutes.

Going for a walk is your best bet. If you work at home, take frequent walks during the day for twenty minutes. Change your path. Create circuits and try to beat your time.

This is also when you can discover "creepy" houses in your neighbourhood. Maybe you live near a graveyard or park. Almost any area in a city as big as the GTA will have loads of creepy places.

One part of paranormal investigation is trying to determine what is "normal" in terms of sounds and temperature and what could be indicating unexplainable phenomenon.

Copyright 2013 Sephera Giron Not to be copied without permission.

Walk around your neighbourhood and take pictures. Get a sense of what is "normal" for your area. 

It can be fun to put your pictures together and create stories. You might find things in  your pictures you never noticed before.

Copyright 2013 Sephera Giron Not to be copied without permission.

Even something as obvious as an expensive gated community can become ominous depending on how you choose to see it, what time of day it is and the angle you choose to photograph. I spent a lot of time in that gated community when I was working for the government. Everyone in there is just as normal as you and I. But rich.

Copyright 2013 Sephera Giron Not to be copied without permission.

See how a gate tip in the photo above takes on an ominous tone? It's reminiscent of how a character is going to meet his fate in a slasher film. Or is it just a gate tip on cold day in March? Maybe an animal or even a human had been injured on that gate tip. We'll never know.

Copyright 2013 Sephera Giron Not to be copied without permission.

Believe it or not, the picture above and the picture below are both the famous haunted "Legion Road" streetcar stop. If you search "haunted Toronto," you'll find stories about it. 

Copyright 2013 Sephera Giron Not to be copied without permission.

The north side of the road seems to be the area where most of the weird sightings have happened to me. Now, however, there's a building there. See that big new condo? That's new. There was nothing there before. I've never actually waited for the streetcar there in either direction. But I drive along there pretty much every day. The mist rolled in from the lake, perhaps. Just in that one spot. Right by the streetcar stop. Nowhere else.
It's very curious.

Copyright 2013 Sephera Giron Not to be copied without permission.

If you do happen to discover weird and interesting areas in your neighbourhood, be careful if you get the urge to explore deeper. Obey the law and don't go trespassing. Enjoy the stories in your head about what might have happened on the grounds you are walking on, before there were sidewalks and buildings, back when there was only wildlife. Perhaps even dinosaurs.

Where are the ghosts residing?